My woodworking journey

My journey in woodworking started with finishing Ikea furniture in my new home. The next stage was to modify Ikea furniture. I bought an Ivar shelving unit and modify it by putting in the sides and the doors. It’s now a display cabinet sitting in my living room. The construction was simple. I cut the shelving unit down to 6′ and cut rabbets on the outside to hold pine 10mm thick. The pine was joined by lap joint on the sides. At that time in 2007, I didn’t know how strong butt joints along the grain were. Now that I know this fact, butt joints along the length of the wood is my preferred choice.

Thereafter I started to try my hands at sheet goods. The main type was plywood. I did a build in for a fish pond. This was my first build n with very little tools. Initially, I tried to hold the parts of the cabinet together with plastic corner brackets, which on looking back, was a very foolish thing to do. They just came apart! So I decided to screw it, which was much stronger. I also tried my hands at wall panneling. I made the lines by sawing midway through the plywood with a circular saw.

My next project was a bed. This time, I wanted to try joinery. The main joint that hold up the frame of the bed was the bridle joint. I also made an drawer unit that fit under the bed.

Other projects I did in my earlier years include a sofa, a cutlery tray for my home.